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Kar Shin Lin

Ms. Thompson
AP Language 2A
10 May 2015
Writing Reflection 2015
Throughout the whole year, I have been given a plethora of opportunities to showcase my
writing style as well as hone and tweak my weaknesses. Constant writing and analysis taught me
to make coherent assertions and fluid arguments. Before this year, I practiced using an objective
voice in my prose and organizing my writing. With the addition of this years writing, my skill in
substantiating my prose has greatly increased through the use of an effective thesis and adequate
support that makes the reader understand my point of view. Pieces like the I Just Wanna Be
Average essay and the term research paper strengthened my thesis-making abilities while AP
Exam essays bolstered my support.
Most importantly, my essays response to James Baldwins view improved my thesismaking. This is useful in all types of writing. The point that I make needs to be firmly
established and needs to outline the whole paper. Prior to this paper, I did not have a clear idea of
all the functions of a thesis, but after taking time to write the paper, I understood how crucial it
truly was. The cogent thesis is the single most important aspect of a paperif the reader cannot
understand my thesis, he or she will not be able to understand the content of my paper. My thesis
in this paper had to include my opinion and my arguments while also using Mike Roses voice.
Writing this thesis was perhaps the most challenging task of this year; I was faced with
transitioning a generalized introduction with specific arguments. After receiving input from
many people throughout the writing process, I finally added sentences to my introduction

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paragraph to link my thesis, so my thesis could be more specific to the paper. Furthermore, the
thesis of my term paper had to serve the same purpose as before. However, because I was simply
presenting a certain viewpoint on my topic, I did not have to outline a very firm argument in my
thesis. Due to my practice with the IJWBA paper, I was more prepared for writing this paper.
The second facet of improvement this year dealt with my ability to organize and make
arguments. Organization was heavily emphasized in the term paper. The length of this paper
made it more challenging to strategically place certain information in certain places. A lot of
thought had to be put into this paper to deliver an unequivocal message to the reader. I chose to
use a format which placed general information at the beginning and specifying my topic,
theocracies in the middle of the essay. Moreover, the use arguments I used in this paper as well
as my other pieces included different viewpoints. Rather than only showing one side of the story,
I chose to use counter arguments to support my thesis. The reader is then able to see both sides of
the argument while also seeing the fallacy with the opposing side. This method was introduced to
me this year and has done much to strengthen my argumentative abilities. The use of these
techniques in my AP exam essays increased my score to a 7 and beyond. I learned that AP
readers like to see the use of counter arguments to show how opposing positions are not as strong
as the chosen one. I have begun to heavily use this technique in buttressing my thesis. These
skills have greatly increased my communicative skills, as I will continue to build upon these
qualities to become an even greater writer in the following years.